Local Languages May Become Extinct

Tempo Interactive, Monday, 11 January, 2010 | 14:20 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Yogyakarta:Local languages in Indonesia may become extinct as a result of the use of English or the national language. Based on UNESCO’s survey, out of 738 local languages, 15 are close to extinction.

The media is being seen as having introduced foreign languages to the people. “Yet, 99 percent of people consuming the media in Indonesia are Indonesians," said Junus Satrio Atmojo, the Culture and Tourism Ministry’s Ancient Relics directorate-general during the “Performance Evaluation of the One-Year Cultural Heritages Management in Indonesia” in Yogyakarta on Saturday.

The Yogyakarta Education Office chief, Samsuri, said this was related to the low number of local language teachers in schools. “One school should at least have one Javanese language teacher. However, more than 50 percent of schools do not have one.”

PITO AGUSTIN RUDIANA